


Green Finch and Linnet Bird

by Failla



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, for the lawlu big bang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 22:38:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17927708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Failla/pseuds/Failla
Summary: AU where Law never quite escapes the Donquixote Family.“I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!”Big dreams for such a small body. “Trafalgar Law. You should leave.”





	Green Finch and Linnet Bird

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Lawlu Big Bang! Check out the rest at the lawlu-events tumblr page.
> 
> Companion art by the lovely GeneralDevi (link to come).
> 
> Loosely inspired by the Sweeney Todd song of the same name, and Johanna which follows it. Second chapter to come within the week.
> 
> Thank you!

It was truly amazing just how many people could get injured badly enough to need Law’s intervention in just one day.  Soldiers, Family members, underground lowlifes his services had been sold to, they all got sick or stabbed (sometimes both) and they all flocked to the Donquixote Family for the best medical treatment the world has to offer.  Not exactly heartwarming work, bringing shitty people back from the brink of death, but it’s not as though Law had much choice in the matter.  Sentimental thoughts like that he left buried, smothered under the admittedly morbid glee of holding the powers of life and death in his hands.  No one here died unless Law wanted them to.  Not anymore. 

Only sometimes a mercy.

That day in particular had been a long one.  On top of the usual suspects, it was the monthly visit out of the palace grounds to serve the citizens of Dressrosa at large.  The first of every month the island dragged their most wretched out to the capital, each hoping for their own personal miracle.  And all of it an extra layer in the Dressrosan façade, a paradise and Doflamingo the benevolent king above it all. The brokers and mob bosses might have been some of the sickest, slimiest motherfuckers on the seas, but at least they were honest about it.

All this added up to his current situation: dozing off in a bath that was rapidly growing uncomfortably cool, and far too tired to move to the bed.  There was a fire stoked in the other room, chasing away what little nighttime chill remained.  All he had to do was get up, dry off, and he would be able to not fall asleep warm and in bed instead of cold and in the bath.  Easy.

His musings were cut short by the loud, dull metallic _thunk_ of something very large slamming into his bedroom window.  The noise was so loud he half expected it to be followed by the sound of glass shattering, despite the wrought iron bars caging it.

Instead there was the sound of gentle rattling, followed by the _snap_ of what could only be the window’s lock.  Not a bird then.  Law crept out of the bath and into the nightclothes he’d thankfully remembered to drag in here.  No way in hell he was dying wet and naked.

Law peeked around the bathroom door to see a smallish, vaguely humanoid shape tumble up and over his windowsill and flop gracelessly to the floor.  There was a moment where no one moved, as if the universe itself was shocked, before the shape righted itself with a groan, a sound which was immediately followed by a loud squawk as Law swung a fire poker into its side and sent it rolling yet again.

There was a tussle as the shape, which was probably a person but could just as likely be some strange species of monkey, scrambled on the floor among Law’s furniture and scattered stacks of books.  It ended with Law, feeling rather exposed in only his nightclothes, aiming the poker at the shape’s neck and scowling at him. A gangly young man blinked up at him.  Wild black hair, a small scar beneath his left eye, and a straw hat awkwardly squashed under his back.

He glanced at the poker threatening his neck, back to Law, then opened his mouth as if to say something (explain himself if he had any manners which, as Law was soon to learn, he did not).  Whatever it was, it was cut off by a sudden flurry of noise, distant shouts from under the open window, and the very familiar sound of heavy footsteps ascending the stairs nearest to Law’s rooms. 

When pressed later, Law wouldn’t be able to explain why he did it.  Maybe fear, maybe the near-reflex instinct to hide anything he could be blamed for, or maybe he just wanted to spite Doflamingo any way he could.

Whatever the reason, Law found himself shoving the man under his bed and hissing a _be quiet_ at him before running across the room to poke at the fire, making certain to pull the window shut on his way, bars once again slicing through the moonlit patch on the floor.  A few moments later, Doflamingo barged through the door and was met with only a man glowering at him from in front of the fireplace.  Law stabbed at a log, causing a shower of embers to fly up and out, arcing over the andiron to sizzle onto the hearth. It was all very dramatic.

“Can I help you.” He said flatly.

A long moment passed where Law was left to stew with only his thoughts and the pops and crackles from the fireplace.  Doflamingo stood just across the threshold, his lanky, hunched frame backlit by the hallway, his head turning slowly as he raked his gaze across Law’s bedroom.  Finally, he reached Law himself, sunglasses glinting in the firelight.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. We just heard reports of a…commotion in this area.”  So that was it then, he was checking to ensure Law wasn’t making another break for it.

Law hummed and turned back to the fire.  Given the late hour and the continuing commotion from outside, the fastest way to end this interaction was to make himself the least interesting thing going on right now and hope his attention span gave out quickly. Then, because the night was just insisting on being awful, Doflamingo started to move, ambling his way across the room, and straight towards the window.

The window…which was currently sporting a lock broken by the blunt force of a person crashing into it five minutes ago.  Anxiety swirled in Law’s stomach.  He promptly shoved it deep under his well-practiced mask of indifference.  Getting worked up wouldn’t help the situation, only make it more dangerous.

“So, I just stopped by to check up on things. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, now would we?”

Law’s grip on the poker tightened as Doflamingo approached the window. If he discovered the broken lock, so much as touched it, the rest would come crashing down. Fuck, why was he helping that boy? Time seemed to slow as a hand went for the latch and Law held his breath when he stopped and rested it on the pane. “Oh, right,” he said, chuckling lightly, though at his own mistake or Law’s situation he wasn’t sure. Probably both. Bastard.

Doflamingo peered outside and, not seeing whatever it was he was looking for, turned around, pink feathers fluttering to the ground and a smile sliced across his face. “If you see anything tonight _do_ be sure to inform someone,” he drawled, drawing closer in that awkward bow-legged way of his. “And get some sleep, there’s a few new clients I’d like you to meet tomorrow.”  Doflamingo was then standing decidedly inside Law’s personal bubble, and leaned even closer as he spoke, bending his obscenely tall frame as if to box him in from all sides.

Law flashed a tight smile. “Of course,” he ground out, flipping the poker around to rest over his shoulder like a makeshift shield.  It wouldn’t help if Doflamingo decided to try anything, but it brought a sense of security all the same.  Law took what he could get.

Doflamingo’s face shifted down a tad, hopefully looking at the sharp tip of the poker which was neutrally aimed at the ceiling (hard to tell through the damn sunglasses he insisted on wearing everywhere).  Then he straightened, apparently deciding that playing at a civil conversation wasn’t worth the fight that night. 

“Goodnight then, Law.”  On his way out, he used his (much) greater reach to ruffle Law’s hair in the kind of patronizing bullshit that was easily in the top five of Law’s least favorite things about him.  A few moments later the lock clicked back into place and Law was alone again.

“Was that Mingo?”

Or not.

 Law glanced at the head poking out from under his bed and knelt on the floor to begin cleaning the mess off his carpet.  “Donquixote Doflamingo? Yes,” he said.  He tossed the nearest feathers into the fire.  Did they really have to get everywhere? 

“That smells _really_ bad,” came the voice again.  Law turned his head to see that the man was now sitting on his bed, cross legged with his nose scrunched up.

Law thought about telling him to take his feet off his bed.

“If you don’t like it, get out,” he said instead.

The man had the gall to look almost offended.  “That’s pretty rude you know.”

“What is?”

“When you meet someone new you’re supposed to ask for their name.”  Somehow the man on Law’s bed managed to say it without a hint of irony, as though it truly hadn’t occurred to him that breaking into someone’s room wasn’t exactly polite.

 Law snorted.  The man crossed his arms.

“Fine,” Law said.  “What’s your name?”  

“I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!”

Big dreams for such a small body. Law tossed another couple of feathers into the fire where they made a particularly satisfying sizzle. “Trafalgar Law. You should leave.”

“Tarf—taar—" How was he having this much trouble? “—trrrr—Traffy,” Luffy finished, beaming as though he’d completed some great task.

How in the hell…

“That’s—that’s not even close.”

Luffy’s face morphed into a childish pout. “But your name is too hard! Traffy is much easier!”

“It’s really not that difficult.” 

“Is too!”

Damn he was stubborn. “If you’re going to _butcher_ my family name like that you can just call me Law,” he said. Only one syllable, not even this fool could mess that up.

A mischievous glint snuck into Luffy’s eyes as a grin wormed onto his face. “Nope! I like Traffy too much, you’re Traffy now.”  Cheeky little shit.  Law could almost grow to like him. 

A dangerous thought that had not historically gone over well for either party.

“Well you’re leaving now, so it doesn’t really matter what you call me. Just get out before someone comes back.”

Luffy’s face twisted into something sheepish.  Law could already feel a headache coming on. “Weeeell,” he said, twisting and untwisting his fingers into the quilt on Law’s bed, “The thing is I’m not really sure how to get back to where we anchored the ship.”

Yup, there was the headache.

“Do you remember which port you docked at?” Law asked.

A beat.

“You didn’t dock at a port, did you.”

“Nope!” Luffy chirped, entirely too cheerful for the situation.

“…And you don’t know where.”

Luffy shook his head. Law contemplated shaking the rest of him.

“ _How_ were you expecting to get back then?”

“Oh!” Luffy exclaimed, digging around in his pockets.  A distant part of Law hoped it was a concealed weapon that could justify a murder-suicide. Instead, Luffy triumphantly produced a folded sheet of paper. “Nami sent me with a map!”

Alright. A map Law could work with. He’d memorized the whole island before he’d lost his own map privileges, giving this dumbass a few quick directions should be simple enough and then he could be on his way out of Law’s life forever.

“Oh, this is a nice map, where did you get it?” Law asked, after walking over to where Luffy had spread it out on the bed.  He meant it too.  The thing was easily on par with the most expensive charts Doflamingo kept locked up behind glass, maybe even better. And most importantly, it was very accurate.

Apparently, this was the right thing to say as Luffy visibly perked up at the praise. “Nami drew it! She’s our navigator and she’s awesome at drawing maps and charts and stuff,” he said, words dripping with undisguised pride. “Anyways, our ship is here,” he pointed at a neatly marked ‘X.’  It wasn’t far.  The nearest place to safely anchor a ship, if he remembered correctly.

He straightened up again. “Alright, to get there all you’re going to need to do is head north until you see cliffs, then due west and you should reach that bay no problem.” Simple, direct, Luffy couldn’t possibly mess it up.

Luffy blinked.

“Uhh, so which one was north again?”

_God fucking damn it_.

Apparently, a physical demonstration would be required. “Go _this_ way until you see cliffs, and _that_ way until you reach your ship,” Law said, helpfully pointing in the correct directions. “Understand?” He had better.

Luffy made a face that indicated that he very much did not understand. Law’s eye twitched, a reaction he’d really thought he’d trained himself out of.

“You know what?” he said, exasperated. “Just walk until you reach the coastline and then follow the shore around until you get there. It’ll happen eventually.”  The adrenaline from his room being broken into, and the subsequent _visit_ from Doflamingo had entirely worn off and left Law even more exhausted than he’d been before Luffy had crashed into his life. Maybe even tired enough to get a decent fucking night’s sleep.

“It’s too hard, can’t you just take me there instead?”

Law didn’t flinch, but he did toss a sham pillow to the floor with perhaps slightly more force than necessary.  “No,” he said in a tight voice, “I cannot ‘just take you there.’”

Luffy blinked and (quite rudely thank you very much) did not move in the face of Law’s extremely obvious and telegraphed motions of turning down the bed so that he could attempt to go to sleep.  God, it had to be the early morning already.  Then Luffy sat up suddenly, whatever thought he’d been brewing completed. “Oh! Is it because you’re sick?”

Sick?

“What do you mean sick?” Law asked. “Do I look sick?” He was tired certainly, but surely he didn’t look _that_ bad.

Luffy’s head turned to the side, giving him the appearance of a confused puppy.  “I saw you out earlier, healing a bunch of people in the town,” he said. Law nodded. If he’d been doing any kind of restocking or even just sightseeing it makes sense that he would have seen the large crowd. “And when I was asking this weird toy soldier about what was going on, he said you were with the king and you come out once a month and heal the sickest people for free,” he continued. “So, I asked why you let people build up like that and he said it’s because you’re sick too.”

So that was the lie Doflamingo had told the islanders.  Convenient.  Kept them all from demanding more of him and provided an excellent excuse the day Doflamingo got fed up enough with Law’s stubbornness to try his luck at the Devil Fruit roulette again.

Law sighed. “I’m not sick,” he said. Luffy’s expression turned even more confused, but before he could start down some uncomfortable questions, Law cut him off. “It’s a long story, and I don’t want to talk about it,” he spat, slapping a hand down on his pillow with a loud _fwap_ that echoed throughout the room. Surprisingly, Luffy let it go, even scooted down the bed, though he didn’t get off the thing and _leave_.

“Then do you not want to take me because you’re tired?” Luffy asked, recovering from his brush with hesitation and kicking his legs against the side of the bed.  He really didn’t quit, did he?

“No,” he began, and quickly added “I am tired!” when Luffy looked like he was about to interject. “But I can’t just leave.”

Luffy looked almost pensive, which somehow seemed out of place on his face, for as little time as Law had known him.  “Do you want to be here?” he said, finally stilling and narrowing his eyes.

Law laughed. It wasn’t a nice sound. Did he _want_ to be here? The hell kind of a question was that?  A man whose door and window lock from the outside (or locked in the case of the window, considering Luffy destroyed it not twenty minutes prior) is less a resident and more a prisoner.  Granted he had the power to get around those but locks or no, escape wasn’t a viable option.  They’d tried.  He’d tried.  A powerful Devil Fruit didn’t mean much when your glorified jailer ruled the damn island. All the trappings just served to really make him feel it.

(It worked better than he’d like to admit.)

Luffy seemed to take this as a good enough answer, as he flashed Law with a grin and blithely said, “Then I’ll steal you!”

What.

“ _What.”_

“I said I’ll steal you!” Luffy said, slower this time, as if saying it like he was talking to a child made the thing that he was saying any less ridiculous. “I’m a pirate, and pirates take what they want, and you don’t like it here so I’m going to steal you!”  His logic made some sense.  So long as you looked at it upside down and in a mirror.

“You can’t just _steal_ a person,” Law said, feeling as though he was talking to a brick wall.

Luffy shrugged. “I’ll figure something out.  Isn’t there somewhere you want to go?”

Law’s hand moved without his permission to rest on the small scrap of paper he’d carried tucked away in a pocket for the last five years.  Since his second and final escape attempt went up in so much smoke and he’d ( _lied)_ told his only friends to run ahead, that he’d catch up, and Bepo pressed it into his hand while he hugged him goodbye.  A vivre card with his name printed on it in wobbly block letters.

Told him to come soon.

Putting up a cursory fight had given them time to get clear of the island, well worth the new collection of scars.

If it hadn’t, he would most certainly have heard all about how his stupidity got them killed, how it’s _all your fault you should be grateful for what you have Law, for your life, can’t you see what you’d be without me? Dead with your pitiful friends!  You couldn’t last a week out there alone you stupid child—_

So. They were alive, or if they weren’t it wasn’t Doflamingo that killed them, and that wasn’t enough but it was something close.

Luffy was still looking at him in a way that suggested conspicuous silence wouldn’t be enough of an answer this time.  Law heaved a sigh and dragged his fingers through his hair. “I-- _yes_ but it’s not that simple—”

“Great!” Luffy interrupted, springing off the bed, “I’ll be back in two days to steal you then! That should be enough time for you to get ready, right?”

Did—did he ever listen?

“I was trying to tell you it’s not that easy you can’t just—” Luffy cut him off again, this time by flapping his hand in Law’s face.

“You think too much!”  True, granted, but still missing the point.  “I’ll be here at midnight in two days and you’d better be ready. See you soon Traffy!”  And with that Luffy, completely ignoring Law’s sputtering, opened the window and dropped out back to wherever he had come from.

Law’s knees gave out and he collapsed onto the bed like a puppet with its strings cut.  What the hell. _What the hell._

Well it wasn’t as though he was going to believe such a ridiculous story.

* * *

 

It was stupid.

It was stupid, he was stupid for believing, hell _trusting_ a pirate that broke in through his window, this was so incredibly _immeasurably_ stupid, that idiotic boy was going to get caught and rat him out and it was probably going to get them both killed or worse.  Scratch that, _definitely_ worse, at least for him.

And yet here Law stood, fully dressed with a small bag packed, wearing a hole in the floor beside his window and periodically searching the room for some person or listening device or—or _something_ that might get him caught.  A methodical _Scan_ conducted every five minutes or so, bathroom-closet-bed over and over again, as though he could possibly have missed something during the last five-ten-twenty searches.

The last two days had been absolute hell, the theater in Law’s mind playing every single way this could go horribly wrong on some macabre loop.  The worst weren’t even the endings where he bled out on the ground -- floor, stairs, terrace or ship’s deck, depending on how far away he got in that scenario -- oh no. The worst possibility by far was the one where this was all a trick, a trap laid by Doflamingo to humiliate him, crush any last ember of hope that might still be flickering inside.  How else could an idiot like Luffy have snuck into and out of the palace unnoticed and plan to get back in? Go through all that trouble again for a stranger he hardly knew out of what, the goodness of his fucking heart?

(The least likely scenario is the one where it wasn’t a dream or a trap or an elaborate human trafficking scheme, but reality. The kind of reality that goes off without a hitch and Law is finally—)

“Traffy!”

“Fuck!” Law most _certainly_ did not a yelp.

 Luffy laughed, far too loud for what was ostensibly a stealth operation.  “Ready to go?” he asked and Law—hesitated. Shifted awkwardly, gaze bouncing from the door, to the bag he held in a death grip, to Luffy’s outstretched arm, and finally to the grin splitting his face.  It was still probably a trap or going to end horribly wrong…and yet.  It was still a chance. 

Law took his hand.

Luffy whooped and his smile somehow grew wider.  “Awesome! I just knew yo—” Law slapped a hand over his mouth, cutting him off.

“Shut _up_ you idiot, do you want everyone on the island to hear you?”

He stuck his tongue out through Law’s fingers, causing him to yank his hand back and shake it dry. _Disgusting_. “Who cares? I’d just fight ‘em off I’m plenty strong.”

Any cutting remark Law might have made was cut off as one of Luffy’s arms wound around his waist and the other stretched across the courtyard to grasp a distant tree.

Well. That certainly explained how he got in.

“Let’s go!” Luffy yelled, giving Law just long enough to process what exactly was about to happen before they slingshot out the window, flying up and over the palace wall to tumble onto the grass. It was a rough and painful landing that was _absolutely_ going to stain Law’s pants for the rest of eternity and Luffy was _still. Grinning._

Law smacked him.

“Owww!” Luffy howled, “What was that for?”

“For your shitty rescue job!”

“It wasn’t shitty it was awesome!” Luffy said, and before Law could respond he added “And it wasn’t a rescue, got it? Heroes rescue people and I’m not a hero, I’m a pirate. I _stole_ you.”

Oh, right. Law had forgotten exactly how he’d worded this insane plan of his. “Well, I suppose your technique was perfectly fine then. You can’t possibly be expected to care about bruising up something you _stole_.”

The sarcasm soared miles above Luffy’s head.  “Yup!” he chirped, foul mood forgotten as quickly as it had come. “Now come on lazy, we’ve got to get to my ship! Sanji said if I wasn’t back in an hour they were leaving without me and making Usopp captain so we can’t be late or I’ll have to fight him again.”

Oh god, the _captain?_ How did they function? Was their ship even seaworthy? Or maybe he was just some figurehead the crew would toss them both overboard once they found out—

Law’s increasingly panicked train of thought was derailed by Luffy tugging insistently at him. By the hand that Law still had in a death grip, like if he let go it would all evaporate before his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m…I’m coming,” Law said, and with that they were off sprinting down to the coast where there was in fact a surprisingly large ship anchored in the bay. It certainly _looked_ seaworthy at least. Luffy began waving his free arm wildly and yelling something Law didn’t quite catch. It all felt fuzzy, blurred around the edges like everything since their landing had been, like he was watching it all happen to someone else from far away, and then suddenly he was within arm’s reach of the ship, staring at a rope ladder.

A rope ladder which he was going to need to release Luffy’s hand to climb. Because that is how ladders work.  He needed both hands to successfully climb the ladder and get onto the boat and sail away to a new life.

Instead, he griped tighter, both hands shaking. If he let go now, who was to say he wouldn’t just float away?  Float off into the sky and back to the Family like a toy doll on a pull string, or drift up and up and up to join his real family and Flevance and Cora.

He was snapped out of those maudlin thoughts by Luffy’s arm stretching again, this time to grip the edge of the ship and the next second they rocketed onto the deck. This time the dull pain of the rough landing was welcome. Grounding.

To his right, Luffy laughed as a woman yelled at him and the near-forgotten sounds of a ship preparing to raise anchor started up around them.  He stared up at the night sky, full of stars and blessedly cloudless. Law wasn’t sure he could have mustered the necessary brainpower to tell these strangers to be wary of _clouds_.  There was grass at his back and a breeze in his hair and he was still holding Luffy’s hand.

Someone else began to laugh.  Law only realized it was _him_ when Luffy’s face appeared over him and asked if he was OK.

Law turned his head to look him in the eye and said, with more honesty than he’d managed in the past decade put together, “I don’t think I’ve ever been better.”

Luffy smiled.


End file.
